1. Field
The following description relates to a surgical robot system that has less workspace restriction and provides intuitive operator manipulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Minimally invasive surgery refers to surgical methods to minimize the size of an incision. A laparotomy uses a relatively large surgical incision through a part of a human body (e.g., the abdomen). However, in minimally invasive surgery, after forming at least one small port (or incision) of 0.5 cm-1.5 cm through the abdominal wall, an operator inserts an endoscope and a variety of surgical instruments through the port, to perform surgery while viewing an image.
Compared to laparotomy, minimally invasive surgery has several advantages, such as low pain after surgery, early recovery, early restoration of an ability to eat, short hospitalization, rapid return to daily life, and superior cosmetic effects due to a small incision. Accordingly, minimally invasive surgery has been used in gall resection, prostate cancer, and herniotomy operations, etc, and the use thereof continues to expand.
In general, a surgical robot system used in minimally invasive surgery includes a master device and a slave device. The master device generates a control signal corresponding to manipulation of an operator (e.g., a doctor) to transmit the control signal to the slave device. The slave device receives the control signal from the master device to perform manipulation required for surgery of a patient. The master device and the slave device may be integrated with each other, or may be separately arranged in an operating room.
The master device may include an input unit that is manipulated by the operator. The operator may remotely control surgical motion of the slave device by manipulating the input unit. Here, if collision between surgical instruments provided at the slave device occurs, force feedback corresponding to the collision may be provided to the input unit to assist the operator in sensing the occurrence of the collision between the surgical instruments of the slave device. To this end, it may be necessary to mechanically connect the input unit to the master device, which restricts a workspace of the operator. In addition, the input unit generally has a different shape from conventional surgical instruments, and the operator may need to expend considerable time to become proficient in manipulation of the input unit.